KYIV -- A top Ukrainian official reported on November 5 that Yuriy Hlodan, the Odesa man who joined the country’s military after his family was killed by a Russian missile in April 2022, has died at the front lines in the war against Russia.
Interior Minister adviser Anton Gerashchenko did not provide details in his social media posting, but he expressed his “deepest condolences” for the “unbelievable tragedy” as he reported Hlodan’s death.
Odesa Governor Oleh Kiper described Hlodan's death as a "terrible loss" and said that "he died protecting you and me."
Hlodan worked as a pastry chef in an Odesa bakery before the tragedy led to his move to join the military.
On April 23, 2022, a Russian missile fired from the Caspian Sea hit the 16-story building in Odesa where Valeria Hlodan and her family lived.
The fourth and fifth floors of the building collapsed, and the house caught fire, killing eight people and injuring 20 others.
The rocket claimed the lives of three generations of the family living on the fourth floor: Valeria; her 3-month-old daughter, Kira; and Valeria's mother, Lyudmyla Yavkina.
Yuriy and Valeria Hlodan had been married for nine years.
Shortly before the attack, Yuriy Hlodan had gone to the store to buy groceries. He rushed home and demanded that rescuers let him into the burning apartment. He found the bodies of his wife and her mother. Later, rescuers carried out the body of his daughter.
After the deaths of his family, Hlodan joined Ukraine’s military in the battle against the Russian invasion.
"Time is short. The enemy does not wait,” he said at the time.
"I am motivated by the fact that there is no other way. I, together with my brothers-in-arms, stand in defense of the motherland, its freedom, and independence. For every child and family."
